Fistulae can occur for a variety of reasons, such as, from a congenital defect, as a result of inflammatory bowel disease such as Crohn's disease, some sort of trauma, or as a side effect from a surgical procedure. Additionally, several different types of fistulae can occur in humans, for example, urethro-vaginal fistulae, vesico-vaginal fistulae, tracheo-esophageal fistulae, gastrointestinal fistulae, for example gastrocutaneous, enterocutaneous and colocutaneous fistulae, and any number of anorectal fistulae such as recto-vaginal fistula, recto-vesical fistulae, recto-urethral fistulae, and recto-prostatic fistulae. When fistulas form, they can track between intestinal segments or between an intestinal segment and other organs (e.g., bladder, vagina, etc.), adjacent tissue, or the skin. Fistulas are classified as internal when they communicate with adjacent organs (e.g., entero-enteric and rectovaginal fistulas, etc.) and external when they communicate with the dermal surface (e.g., enterocutaneous, peristomal and perianal fistulas, etc.).
Promoting and improving tissue healing around the fistula opening and in the fistula tract may be an important aspect of fistulae medical treatments. For instance, promoting and improving tissue healing may lead to quicker recovery times and lessen the opportunity for infection, particularly in a post-surgical context. Some advancements in the medical arts pertaining to systems, methods, and devices to promote and improve tissue healing in patients aim to add active biological components (e.g., tissue particles, stem cells, other types of cells, etc.) to a wound site (e.g., surgical site, accidental trauma site, etc.) or other defect site (e.g., caused by disease or other condition, etc.) to promote tissue regeneration or accelerate tissue healing. When adding biological components to a site, such components may be added independently or as part of a specifically designed matrix or other mixture depending on the condition being treated and goals of the treatment. Some examples of cell-based therapy technology are disclosed in U.S. Pub. No. 2008/0311219, entitled “Tissue Fragment Compositions for the Treatment of Incontinence,” published Dec. 18, 2008, the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference herein. Additional examples of cell-based therapy technology are disclosed in U.S. Pub. No. 2004/0078090, entitled “Biocompatible Scaffolds with Tissue Fragments,” published Apr. 22, 2004, the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference herein. Additional examples of cell-based therapy technology are disclosed in U.S. Pub. No. 2008/0071385, entitled “Conformable Tissue Repair Implant Capable of Injection Delivery,” published Mar. 20, 2008, the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference herein.
Regardless of how the active biological components are delivered or applied to a site, the biological components must first be obtained and prepared. One approach for obtaining such biological components is to harvest the desired components from a healthy tissue specimen (e.g., in an adult human). Examples of devices and associated methods for collecting and processing harvested tissue are disclosed in U.S. Pub. No. 2004/0193071, entitled “Tissue Collection Device and Methods,” published Sep. 30, 2004, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,794,408, the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference herein. Additional examples of devices and associated methods for collecting and processing harvested tissue are disclosed in U.S. Pub. No. 2005/0038520, entitled “Method and Apparatus for Resurfacing an Articular Surface,” published Feb. 17, 2005, the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference herein. Additional examples of devices and associated methods for collecting and processing harvested tissue are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 7,611,473, entitled “Tissue Extraction and Maceration Device,” issued Nov. 3, 2009, the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference herein. Additional examples of devices and associated methods for collecting and processing harvested tissue are disclosed in U.S. Pub. No. 2008/0234715, entitled “Tissue Extraction and Collection Device,” published Sep. 25, 2008, the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference herein. Additional examples of devices and associated methods for processing harvested tissue are disclosed in U.S. Pub. No. 2005/0125077, entitled “Viable Tissue Repair Implants and Methods of Use,” published Jun. 9, 2005, the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference herein. Additional examples of devices and associated methods for collecting and processing harvested tissue are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,694,951, entitled “Method for Tissue Removal and Transplantation,” issued Dec. 9, 1997, the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference herein. Additional examples of devices and associated methods for collecting and processing harvested tissue are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,990,982, entitled “Method for Harvesting and Processing Cells from Tissue Fragments,” issued Jan. 31, 2006, the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference herein. Additional examples of devices and associated methods for collecting and processing harvested tissue are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 7,115,100, entitled “Tissue Biopsy and Processing Device,” issued Oct. 3, 2006, the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference herein.
Once harvested and suitably processed (e.g., incorporated with a scaffold, etc.), biological material such as tissue fragments may be applied to a wound site or other type of site within the human body in a variety of ways. Various methods and devices for applying such biological material are disclosed in one or more of the U.S. patent references cited above. Additional methods and devices for applying such biological material are disclosed in U.S. Pub. No. 2005/0113736, entitled “Arthroscopic Tissue Scaffold Delivery Device,” published May 26, 2005, the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference herein.
While a variety of devices and techniques may exist for harvesting, processing, and applying biological components from a tissue specimen, it is believed that no one prior to the inventor(s) has made or used an invention as described herein.
The drawings are not intended to be limiting in any way, and it is contemplated that various embodiments of the invention may be carried out in a variety of other ways, including those not necessarily depicted in the drawings. The accompanying drawings incorporated in and forming a part of the specification illustrate several aspects of the present invention, and together with the description serve to explain the principles of the invention; it being understood, however, that this invention is not limited to the precise arrangements shown.